POWER OUTAGE. Residents of Victorias City in Negros Occidental flock to charging stations set up by the local government unit at the public plaza on Aug. 31, 202. As of Friday (Sept. 1), the city and the adjacent towns of E.B. Magalona and Manapla have been experiencing massive power outage due to the breakdown of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative substation. (Photo courtesy of Victorias City Information Office)
BACOLOD CITY – For five days now, three localities in Negros Occidental have been hit by massive power outage after the 15 MVA substation of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) in Victorias City broke down during a storm Monday night.
Victorias City and E.B. Magalona town are experiencing total blackout, prompting residents to flock to charging stations set up by the local government units (LGUs) and travel to nearby cities of Silay, Talisay and Bacolod to connect to mobile phone and internet signals.
Portions of the adjacent Manapla also have no power supply.
“Your cooperative is working 24/7 to restore our power in the affected areas as soon as possible,” Ma. Dorothy Evangelista, OIC-general manager, said in a statement on Friday.
Efforts to connect to the power lines of the neighboring Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) to supply electricity initially to E.B. Magalona are ongoing.
“The Noneco ‘Warriors of Light’ with the technical support team are constructing lines for interconnection of Ceneco and Noneco,” the management said in an advisory.
In Victorias City, Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez on Friday called for immediate action to the power outage as he distributed 12 gasoline-powered generator sets to the barangays.
“Troubleshooting operations of Noneco are ongoing and the LGU is coordinating with various institutions to restore electricity as soon as possible,” he said.
Benitez said as a solution for now, Ceneco will loan Noneco its 15MVA transformer stationed at CyberCenter in Bacolod to reenergize the city.
A team from Noneco and Celcor Builders and Equipment Inc. is transporting the transformer to Victorias, he added.
Benitez said the commissioning will follow the established protocols such as testing and declassification, and is expected to be completed within 24 hours of installation.
The power interruption was initially reported at 10:53 p.m. on Monday after the substation’s lightning arrester broke down.
Electricity was restored past 2 a.m. on Tuesday, but another outage took place later that morning when the Noneco transformer tripped and power was not restored until Friday afternoon.
Internal inspection showed minor damage to the primary bushings of the transformer and since then, power supply has been unavailable in the affected areas.
After two tests on the transformer, Noneco determined that continuing its operation could pose risks. (PNA)
